Canada completes weekend sweep in Volleyball Nations League play
Men pull out win over Japan, close to within 4 points of Italy for Final Six berth
Canada overcame the absence of Sharone Vernon-Evans, its most productive player in Volleyball Nations League play, in Saturday's impressive win over a standout U.S. outfit and did enough to eke out a victory over Japan on Sunday.
Up two sets to none in Illinois, the Canadian men watched their opponent fight back to even the match before pulling out a 3-2 victory (25-18, 26-24, 23-25, 21-25, 15-13) at Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill.
The top-five squads from the preliminary round of the 16-team VNL will join the host U.S. in the Final Six at Chicago, beginning July 10 at the University of Illinois' Credit Union 1 Arena.
WATCH | Canada's match against Japan
"We wanted to come here and compete," Canada wing spiker Nicholas Hoag, who had 20 points on Sunday, told Volleyball Canada. "We wanted to get at least two victories out of three.
"The game against the United States was a very, very good game; probably our best of the weekend. That was a huge three points against a good team."
Vernon-Evans nursing injury
Outside hitter Stephen Maar of Scarborough, Ont., topped Canada with 21 points while Graham Vigrass added 19.
The Canadians sit four points behind the Italians ahead of their June 28 matchup at 4 p.m. ET.
It remains unclear if Vernon-Evans, who entered the weekend as the VNL's top scorer with 158 points, will return to game action next weekend. He was injured early in Friday's contest.
Although we're maybe physically not all that fresh, I think we're working on things that are going to benefit us in the future.— Canada head coach Glenn Hoag after his team's three-match weekend sweep
"We started a couple other guys and they did a really good job," Canada head coach Glenn Hoag said. "It's the first time we won three matches in one weekend [this season] so I'm really satisfied."
Japan made it a one-point match before Edmonton's Lucas Van Berkel sealed the victory with his third point of the match. The Canadians had opened a 9-6 advantage earlier in the match on a standout diving defensive pickup by the 27-year-old middle blocker.
"We're improving in certain aspects of our game," said Glenn Hoag. "Although we're maybe physically not all that fresh, I think we're working on things that are going to benefit us in the future."
Fresh off Saturday night's 3-1 win over the Americans, Canada was leading 11-10 in the opening set against Japan when Vigrass notched two aces, putting top spin on the latter delivery.
The Canadians led by as many as eight points after a block by setter Brett Walsh.
They never led by more than three in the second set that ended with a Vigrass kill.
Canada appeared on its way to a quick victory, leading 14-10 in the third set, but a hard-working Japanese side — led by Yuki Ishikawa, Yuji Nishida and Masahiro Sekita — fought back to force a fifth set.
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